“We’re on our way. Don’t do anything, Giulio,” Damien says before ending the call.
Giulio stares at the phone “Rude. Didn’t even say good bye. See you soon, Giulio. I love you, Giulio.” He snickers as he puts his phone away. “Damien would never say that. ‘I love you’s are for Vanessa.”
He raises my arm up, then pulls a knife out. I watch, helplessly, as he pushes the knife against my armpit, unable to do anything to protect my body.
“‘I love you’s are for Pandora, too, right?” Giulio asks. “Because she doesn’t want me to kill you, but if you’re not in it for the long haul, if you’re going to fucking chicken out after all this… I’ve got about two minutes to make your eye surgery extremely pointless.”
I swallow hard. “I’ve come this far. If I didn’t… if I didn’t love Pandora, I wouldn’t have done any of it. I would have grown bored of her, I wouldn’t have bothered after the first time she…” After the house fire, or after Zayden’s head, or after the way she hurt Asch.
But none of that had changed anything for me.
Even having Giulio Pavone threatening me so directly doesn’t change anything.
I want to be there for her.
I want to make sure she gets every murder theater she wants.
I want to see her smiling and laughing and kissing Asch and River.
She’s destined to be a fucking powerful woman, and I want her at my side.
Giulio lowers the knife, and my arm.
The door to my room opens, and Asch is the first onethrough.
He’s holding Pandora’s hand, tugging her along.
“Blaze!” Asch says, rushing to my side with Pandora trailing behind him.
Pandora gets as far as reaching for my hand before Giulio pulls on her shoulder.
“Nope. Give me a hug first, Frog, or I’ll feel left out.”
Pandora sighs, but she embraces him fiercely too. Giulio kisses the top of her head.
Huh.
I’m jealous.
My dad never hugged me like that.
He’ll never be able to, now. He’d been disappointed in me, he’d aimed a fucking gun at me?—
And then he’d pushed me out of the way. He’d saved my life. I remember. Despite everything, he’d wanted me to live.
My single eye tears up.
“You know, when I told you to destroy your enemies, I did mean a quiet destruction. And just your enemies, not entire buildings,” Giulio says.
Pandora huffs softly. “You should have specified then. You know things are more fun when they’re big and dramatic.”
Asch had slowed down when Giulio took Pandora’s attention, but then he continues to my side. “Hey,” he says, his voice quiet. “How’re you holding up?”
River has followed them into the room, but he hovers awkwardly by the door, like he’s not sure what he’s supposed to be doing.
“Um.” I glance up at Asch. He’s got a few scrapes and bruises on his face, but he has both eyes, all of his teeth, and as far as I can tell, all of his limbs. “Like the world is really, really narrow.”
Asch goes silent, then he says, “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you and Pandora. But Ezio was there, and… And nothing. I’m sorry.”
